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How to Hire a Bankruptcy Lawyer

When you have debts piling up that cannot be paid, you have several options. You can work out a payment plan with your creditors. You can sign over the ownership rights on some of your property or simply sell it off to pay your bills. You can let some of your property, such as your home or farm, be foreclosed upon. It’s a painful experience to lose much or most of your possessions as the result of an inability to pay your debts. This is why many people in such dire straits opt for one of the most common solutions, known as filing for bankruptcy.

A Bankruptcy Lawyer Can Help You Explore Your Available Options

It may be that you do not actually have to file for bankruptcy in order to work out an acceptable solution to your mounting debt. However, if this does prove to be the case, your next logical step is to hire the services of a professional bankruptcy lawyer. This is the person you can turn to in order to get a better grip on your available options. They can help you decide if bankruptcy is the right move for you and, if so, what type of bankruptcy you should file under.

Don’t File For Bankruptcy Without the Assistance of a Legal Representative

Filing for bankruptcy is not a procedure that you should attempt on your without the aid of a professional legal representative. There are many intricacies involved in this procedure that may not be apparent to you at first sight. You may receive a challenge to your filing from a creditor that you do not have the legal expertise to properly respond to. For all of these reasons and much more, it is highly advisable that you engage the services of a professional bankruptcy lawyer.

There’s No Need to Be Afraid of Hiring a Bankruptcy Lawyer

You don’t need to be afraid of doing so. You can easily use the power of the world wide web to check for local bankruptcy lawyers who possess the skills, experience, and credentials to represent your claim in a court of law. A bankruptcy lawyer is someone who has earned the respect and trust of many people who were previously in your shoes. You can use the web to read independent reviews concerning them and check up on all of their current qualifications. This is a choice that you need to spend some time on before you arrive at your ultimate decision.

What Are the Most Common Reasons People File For Bankruptcy?

There are many reasons why you may find yourself needing to have recourse to filing for bankruptcy. For example, you may be in the situation of owing so much debt on your credit cards that you can only make minimal payments. You may even find yourself skipping payments, or juggling paying off your credit card with other important bills, such as the rent for your apartment or the monthly payment for your car. If this is the case, you will soon find yourself in serious arrears with your credit card company and they may begin demanding payments in a continual and even threatening manner.

Are Bill Collectors Continually Calling to Demand Payment?

Another situation in which you may consider filing immediately for bankruptcy is if bill collectors are continually making threatening calls to your house. You may even be getting them at your workplace. If this is the case, it can cause acute embarrassment. Meanwhile, the debts that you owe are also being reported to your credit bureau which will result in an immediate lowering of your credit score. If the only way to stop these calls and the shame and embarrassment they cause is to file for bankruptcy, it may well be wise to consult a lawyer in this regard.

If You Are in Danger of Losing Your Home, Bankruptcy May Be the Answer

Another common situation in which many people feel compelled to file for bankruptcy is when they are so far in debt on their mortgage that they may soon lose their home. Having your home or other real estate property foreclosed upon is a serious fear that can come true all too often if you don’t take the appropriate measures to ward it off. While bankruptcy is not the only method you can make use of to hold off a foreclosure, it is certainly one of the most effective and commonly resorted to. You will need to consult with a bankruptcy lawyer to see if this move is right for you.

You May Not Even Be Aware of Just How Much Money You Really Owe

You may be so far behind on your payments or so generally inept at handling your personal finances that you may not even know how much money you really owe. If this is the case, you will need to consult with a bankruptcy lawyer in order to take a full inventory of your assets versus your debts so that you can gain a clear picture of what you own and how much you owe to your creditors. This step may be the immediate prelude to filing for bankruptcy so that you can finally gain an accurate picture of the amount of money that you owe so that you can devise a workable payment plan.

Bankruptcy Is Not a Cure All Solution For Every Kind of Debt

One thing that you should be fully aware of before you attempt to file for bankruptcy is that this is most certainly not meant to be a cure all for every single kind of debt that exists. For example, you should know that filing for bankruptcy will not get you off the hook if you are behind in your child support payments. Most of your tax debts, as well as other forms of spousal support payments, are not included in the province of bankruptcy. For these kinds of debts, you’ll need to find a different solution.

What Is Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?

If you decide to file for bankruptcy, there are different types of proceedings that you are free to choose between. If you choose Chapter 7 bankruptcy, this is a type that involves giving a special trustee that is appointed by the court the power to liquidate some of your assets. The trustee has the power to choose which of your assets are to be liquidated in order to pay off your debts. However, you can keep some of your property that has been duly labeled as “exempt” or protected under state law.

After the liquidation of the property chosen by the trustee, your debts will be considered to be fully paid off. These will mostly be your “unsecured” debts, that is, debts that have not been secured by collateral. These include such items as medical bills, credit card debts, and the like. “Exempt” property that you can usually manage to keep hold of includes such items as your car, home furnishings, and clothes. The liquidation of items under Chapter 7 proceedings is final and protected by state law.

What Is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy?

Perhaps the form of bankruptcy that is most commonly resorted to is Chapter 13. Under this form of bankruptcy, you will need to have some form of reliable income in order to begin the repayment of at least some small portion of your debt. This form of bankruptcy is thus often referred to “wage earner’s bankruptcy.”

If you should decide to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will have to propose a payment plan. This plan must give exact details concerning just how you plan to repay all of your currently outstanding debts over a period of not more than three to five years. The court will decide the minimum figure that you will be required to pay back to your creditors under this plan.

What Is the Minimum Amount That You Must Repay Under Chapter 13?

This minimum amount that the court will decide you must repay will be calculated according to a number of factors. These factors will include how much you currently earn and the total amount that you actually owe. An additional factor for the court to consider will concern the total amount of money that your various unsecured creditors would have been entitled to receive if you had filed bankruptcy under the rules of Chapter 7 as listed above.

What Is Chapter 11 Bankruptcy?

Another type of bankruptcy proceeding, known as Chapter 11, is commonly made use of by business owners who are in the midst of trying to pay off their debts and reorganize their financial affairs. The Chapter 11 type of bankruptcy is also available for the use of private individuals but is rarely had recourse to because it is extremely time consuming and cost intensive.

Most private individuals who use Chapter 11 will do so only in the case that they have debts that exceed the limits imposed by the rules of Chapter 13. They may also do so because they own a substantial amount of assets that are not exempt under the rules of Chapter 13, such as real estate properties.

What Is Chapter 12 Bankruptcy?

A type of bankruptcy proceeding that is rare for individuals to have recourse to, but which nevertheless may be necessary for you to adopt, is known as Chapter 12. The rules that govern this type of bankruptcy are nearly, but not quite, identical to those of Chapter 13. However, to obtain relief under this type of bankruptcy, over 80 percent of your debts must have been incurred while you were engaged in the act of running a family owned farm or fishery.

People who are able to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 12 will enjoy several types of advantages that Chapter 13 cannot offer. For example, Chapter 12 features much higher debt ceilings so as to accommodate the very large debts that normally come from the operation of a fishery or family farm. This type of bankruptcy proceeding has been set up in order to offer you a great deal more say in the matter of ruling out the loss of certain types of property that currently have liens attached to them.

Your Lawyer Can Help You Decide What Type of Bankruptcy to File Under

You will need the professional advice and counsel of an experienced bankruptcy lawyer to help you decide just which type of bankruptcy procedure is right for your personal needs. This is a question that you will need professional advice and counsel in order to answer in the correct manner. The various types of bankruptcies that are available for you to file under all have different debt ceilings and other conditions that you need to be aware of. In the end, after you consulted with your bankruptcy lawyer, you will be able to proceed having been advised of your rights and what to expect.

What Qualities Should You Look For in a Bankruptcy Lawyer?

When it comes to deciding which bankruptcy lawyer to hire, there are certain important qualifications that you need to keep in mind. The first one is that the lawyer you hire should be local. There is no point in hiring a lawyer that may not even be licensed to practice in your state. You will simply be referred to another practice and you will have wasted a considerable amount of time and energy on a wild goose chase. The lawyer you hire to represent you in a court of law needs to be local so that they are aware of and familiar with the conditions that prevail in your region.

The Lawyer You Hire Needs to Be Honest and Trustworthy

Beyond this, the lawyer you hire needs to be trustworthy. You need to make sure via independent fact checking on the web that they really do possess the credentials and experience that they lay claim to on their official website. There are a number of sites on the web, particularly the official website of the legal association of your state, that will enable you to engage in this important fact checking exercise. If you see that the attorney has made claims on their site that don’t seem to be borne out by the evidence you see on independent sites, it may be best to move on to another.

The Lawyer You Hire Needs to Be Available For Consultation

Finally, the lawyer that you hire needs to be available for you to contact at any time of the day or night. Basic 24/7 availability should be the rule of thumb here. This does not mean that you should take advantage of them by calling them with questions every few minutes. But it does mean that your bankruptcy lawyer should always be there for you to reach with any legitimate questions, comments, or concerns that you may have regarding your case. If this is not the case with the lawyer you are presently dealing with, it may be a bad sign that requires an explanation on their part.

What Can a Bankruptcy Lawyer Do to Help Win Your Case?

There are a number of important things that a professional bankruptcy lawyer can do to help you win your case. They can help you produce all of the documents and other official items you need to prove that you are truly unable to pay off all your existing debts at the present time. They can reason with your creditors in order to negotiate a settlement that will allow you to keep your house or at least a portion of your possessions, while you pay off these debts. Finally, if the verdict goes against you, your lawyer can help you find another way to deal with your situation.

What Are the Good Points Associated With Filing For Bankruptcy?

There are several good points that are associated with filing for bankruptcy. For one, if the procedure is successful, you do gain immediate relief from your creditors. Even if you are forced to forfeit or sell off substantial amounts of your personal property, you at least gain relief from your debt. These proceedings may be painful but they are quite effective. If you are able to negotiate a payment plan with your creditors, you may even be able to keep the property in question, such as your home, car, or real estate holdings.

What Are the Negative Points Associated With Filing For Bankruptcy?

You should be aware that there are several negative points that are associated with filing for bankruptcy. Under the agreement you sign, you may indeed lose much or all of the property that is disputed by your creditors. You may have to sign away your rights to these properties so that you can never seek to reclaim them at a later date. This could mean saying goodbye to property, such as a home or other real estate holdings, that has been in your family for generations. However, at the end, you do at least gain some much-needed relief from your current condition of outstanding debt.

Filing For Bankruptcy May Have a Bad Effect on Your Credit Score

Filing for bankruptcy may also result in other unforeseen side effects, such as the running of your credit score. A low credit score may have a negative effect on your ability to get a loan for a car or new home. Even after you have completely paid off all of your outstanding debts, you may still be seen as a credit risk. This may mean that you are forced to embark upon a long and tedious road toward repairing your credit that may take years to complete.

Filing for Bankruptcy Isn’t the End of Your Financial Independence

Even though there are some serious negative points to consider when you decide whether or not to file for bankruptcy, this shouldn’t discourage you. If filing for bankruptcy really is your best choice, you have every right and every reason in the world to go for it. Please don’t think that doing so will automatically result in the loss of all of your possessions as well as your financial independence. In many cases, filing for bankruptcy is only a temporary measure that you can have recourse to until a much more lasting solution presents itself. In any case, bankruptcy is not the end.

Where Can You Go to Find More Info About Filing For Bankruptcy?

There are several places you can turn to in order to find the info you need to file your bankruptcy claim. The best place to turn to is the world wide web. There are several official sites run by government agencies and leading financial centers that will explain to you in detail all of the various options you are free to make use of. These sites are important to bookmark and read through when you are struggling to decide on your next move. They are there to assist you in making the best possible decision for the needs of yourself and your family.

Feel Free to Use Our Online Resources to Locate a Bankruptcy Lawyer

You can feel free to make full of use of our online resources in order to locate the bankruptcy lawyer that is right for your personal needs. We have all of the local listings for lawyers in your area. You can compare their various statistics and gain full access to their contact information. Our handy online resources should allow you to come to an informed decision in a very short amount of time. All the info you need is here for you to use. Feel free to contact us with any additional questions or comments that you may have concerning our bankruptcy lawyer listings.

There’s No Reason to Worry About Hiring a Bankruptcy Lawyer

When it comes to deciding whether or not to hire a bankruptcy lawyer, there are a lot of hard choices to be made. Do you want to take the risk of choosing this move when there are others that you could just as easily be considering? However, if you have made up your mind after adequate research that there really is no other course open to you, you’ll have to stick to your guns and live with your decision. You may still feel a fair bit of trepidation.

You should know that there really is nothing to fear about filing for bankruptcy. This is a legitimate form of debt protection that was specially designed for people in your situation to take full advantage of. You aren’t freeloading off the government or stepping on anyone’s toes. You are simply protecting yourself and your reputation from the harm that being cleaned out by foreclosure can do. Likewise, you shouldn’t be afraid to contact a bankruptcy lawyer in order to get the best counsel and advice on how you should proceed with this extraordinary but highly necessary move.

You may worry that bringing a lawyer into the mix may compromise your independence and freedom of movement. You may also, of course, be concerned that hiring such a person may cut into whatever may remain of your finances and possessions once the bankruptcy proceedings have moved into full swing. However, there is no need for worries of this kind on your part. The lawyer you hire will explain how the process works during the course of your initial consultation. From here, you can agree on the basic fee that you will pay your lawyer for the services they will perform on your behalf.

When it comes to filing for bankruptcy, this is not a process that you want to go through without professional help. The lawyer that you hire will be a valuable ally as you navigate through the tricky and complex world of bankruptcy proceedings. It may be quite an eye opening journey, to say the least, and it’s one that is best experienced with a skilled and experienced legal professional at your side. If you’re ready to get back on track and get your finances in order so that you can make a fresh start, a bankruptcy lawyer is a valuable friend.

When Will You Know It’s Time to File For Bankruptcy?

If you are wondering when you will know that it’s time to file for bankruptcy, read on. There are a number of tell tale signs that do tend to pop up when the necessity for such a move becomes clear. The first is when your credit card debt mounts up to the point where you are unable to do anything more than making the absolute minimum payment each month. You may even find yourself skipping payments or alternating them with payments on other bills.

When you are juggling a thousand balls in the air at once, you naturally can’t even begin to think about breathing freely. You never know when the next shut off of your utilities will suddenly occur. You never know when your phone may be shut off. You don’t know when the repo man will come to take your car away. This is a level of uncertainty that is impossible to live with. Meanwhile, you can’t even decide which bill is the most important one to pay off, so you simply pay down the minimum amount and try to temporize on the rest.

Another tell tale sign is when you begin to receive increasingly frantic phone calls from bill collectors who have been assigned to your case. As the month’s pile on, these calls may become threatening in nature. The bill collectors may even begin calling your workplace to get in touch with you. This is a situation which has negative consequences for obvious reasons. You may find yourself shutting off your phone for hours on end during the time of day when the calls normally come in. But you can’t ignore the bill collectors forever. Something needs to be done to stop the hassle.

When all of these signs add up, you ought to take it as a warning that you need to make a drastic change in your financial condition. It may be that bankruptcy is the best path toward regaining your independence from debt. If this is the case, you need to contact a bankruptcy lawyer as soon as possible in order to get started. If you don’t act soon, the bills will pile up until your credit rating is ruined and all of your possessions will be taken away. Contact a bankruptcy lawyer today to avoid this fate.

What Qualities Should You Look For in a Bankruptcy Lawyer?

When it’s time to file for bankruptcy, you will need to hire a lawyer. This is not an area in which you can afford to act under your own inspiration. If you aren’t an expert on legal proceedings you won’t be able to make the correct decisions, especially when under the pressure of hostile lawyers and a possibly hostile judge. This is why you need to hire a bankruptcy lawyer to represent you in your hearing. It’s a dangerous proceeding that requires expert assistance and guidance.

The first quality that you should look for in a bankruptcy lawyer is honesty. They should be absolutely upfront about their level of knowledge, skills, and experience. They should also be able to show you all of their various credentials in order to prove that they are qualified to perform the services they advertise. Your lawyer should be able to give you an honest, unbiased, and completely realistic estimate of your chances of succeeding in your bankruptcy claim. This is the quality that you should look for above all others in a lawyer: Transparency and trustworthiness.

The next quality you should look for is simple availability. You should be able to contact your lawyer at any time of the day or night in order to reach them with any serious questions, comments, or concerns you may have concerning their services or your chances in court. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should pester them 100 times a day. But it does mean that they should always be available to reassure you when you have serious doubts about your case or when you need help figuring out your next move. A lawyer who is always there for you is a lawyer you can trust.

Finally, you should be able to discuss each and every aspect of your case honestly and openly with your lawyer. There should be no secrets between the two of you. Your lawyer should not suddenly introduce new evidence into the case or take sides against you during the actual court proceedings. The lawyer you hire should be the one who can guarantee you a quick, relatively painless proceeding with an at least above average chance of success. You should be able to witness them working tirelessly on your behalf to bring you the result that you desire.

Where Can You Go to Contact a Bankruptcy Lawyer?

If you are ready to hire a bankruptcy lawyer, you should be aware that doing so is easier than ever. In the old days, you were stuck with whatever names you could pull out of the Yellow Pages under the “legal” section. In some cases, you may have been able to glean a recommendation from a family member or friend. These days, all you need to do is make use of the power of the world wide web to find all the info you need on a host of subjects, including bankruptcy lawyers.

The first thing you need to do is keep it local. There’s no sense in trying to hire the services of an out of state attorney. They will simply remind you of this fact before instructing you to head elsewhere. You can use the web to pick out the attorneys who practice in your own part of the world. It’s easier than ever to find dozens of lawyers who practice in the realm of bankruptcy proceedings. Once you locate a few that seem to fit the bill, you can begin making contact with them.

You can use our handy online resources to narrow down your selection to the lawyers that seem to answer most closely to your personal needs. All of the info you need to get in touch with them is there for you to make use of at your leisure. There is also a brief rundown of their various skills and qualifications so that you know you are contacting a bankruptcy, rather than a personal injury, a lawyer. This will save you a great deal of time and trouble when you need to contact a specific type of lawyer during your hour of greatest need.

Our online resources have been specially developed for your use. The listings are updated and improved on a frequent basis. We check and double check the site regularly to make sure that all false or outdated info is speedily removed. This site is meant to be your one stop shop for info on local attorneys. If you have any questions or comments concerning our site and how it is organized for your benefit, please feel free to get in touch. We welcome any suggestions concerning how the site may be improved and look forward to hearing from you.

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Legal cases involving families require a certain level of tact and care to ensure the safety, integrity, and happiness of the involved family members. Rather than allow such cases to get lost in the jumble of civil, criminal, and probate cases that go through the courts, court clerks often assign these matters to family courts.

Because of the special makeup and function of this Judiciary division, it is important for citizens to understand what a family court is and what role it plays in society. You also may benefit by learning what kinds of cases can be heard in family law court before you decide if or when to take legal action on your own behalf or the behalf of someone in your family.

What is Family Court?

A family court is a court that hears and decides cases pertaining to a wide variety of family matters. It is sometimes also called family law court or simply divorce court. The term “divorce court” only applies of course if the plaintiff and defendant are involved in the dissolution of their marriage, however.

A family court has limited jurisdiction and typically functions as a separate division of a municipal or state court. It can only hear and decide family law cases and cannot by law handle cases that deal with traffic offenses, probate, criminal offenses, code or safety violations, or other legal matters. Those cases have to be assigned by the clerk to either the state or municipal court.

Family court judges also render decisions over the cases that are presented in the courtroom. Family courts do not utilize juries and will not hear trial cases. Those cases must be assigned to higher state or probate courts. However, family courts often exist within the same building as municipal or state courts.

The judges that preside over family court proceedings are either municipal or state judges. They are elected officials and serve anywhere from four to six years depending on the state in which the court is located. They can remain in office for as long as they garner the good will and favor of the voters in the area in which they serve.

They are assisted in their roles by family court clerks. Clerks who work in child support court or assist the presiding divorce court judge have the obligation of assigning cases, summoning witnesses, plaintiffs, and defendants to court, recording and maintaining minutes and records, and forwarding records to higher appeals courts as requested. They are regarded as the historians of the family, divorce, or child support court that they serve. When your ponder questions like what family court near me to pursue legal action, you also should learn what clerk will be handling your case before it is assigned to the family, child support, or divorce court judge.

Cases Heard in Family Court

A family court can hear and decide a wide variety of cases that pertain to family legal matters. While many people get married at their nearest municipal or county courthouse, others choose to get married in family court. Family courts can preside over marriages in some jurisdictions.

However, it is more common for family courts to preside over divorce cases. Anyone can file the appropriate paperwork to request a divorce from the divorce court near me. However, many people prefer to hire attorneys who can secure important information prior to filing the case such as where the family court near me is located and what the family court phone number is in case you or the attorney need to speak with the court clerk.

Other people want to find a divorce court near me not only to file for the end of their marriages but also request child support and alimony for their families. Cases involving family court child support arguments must be handled with precision and care. Judges in a family court setting understand that any decision must take into consideration the financial means of both parents involved as well as the upkeep and maintenance needs of the children and custodial parent.

In addition to presiding over marriages, civil union, domestic partnerships, child support, and divorce petitions, judges in family court often hear more contentious family cases involving legitimacy, surrogacy, and guardianship. People who hire a surrogate to have their children, for example, often are required by the state in which they live to get a court order decreeing who has custody of the children as well as who is rightfully recognized as the parents. Without this decree, the surrogate could petition for and receive guardianship or visitation rights.

Cases involving legitimacy also continue to be heard in family court particularly when disputes over inheritances or recognition arise. Judges may have to determine if a child was born within the legal boundaries of marriage and if the child has rights to any inheritance left behind by his or her parents. This decree can also help a child secure access to protections like health insurance or child support.

Finally, judges in family court sometimes hear cases involving trauma and violence. Some of the more common cases of this nature include:

domestic abuse

child abuse

child abduction

rape or assault of a spouse or child

Judges can issue Protection from Abuse orders, or PFAs, to victimized family members to protect them from their abusers. Law enforcement in the city and county which the family resides is notified of the court’s order as well.

Staff Who Work in Family Court

As mentioned, the typical family court is presided over one if not several family court judges. These judges are municipal or state court judges assigned to this special division of the court system. They are elected officials who serve from four to six years before they are eligible for reelection. In some instances, such as an unexpected vacancy, they may be appointed by the state governor to the court.

Court clerks assist judges in their daily functions by assigning cases to the court’s roster, summoning involved parties to court, and keeping records and minutes of the proceedings. The courtroom reporter helps the clerk maintain the record of cases heard in the courthouse. The bailiff assists the judge maintain order and safety in the courtroom as well.

Outside of the courtroom, you may find other staff members including security or law enforcement that is posted at the doors of the courthouse. Given the nature of the cases heard in the courtroom, tensions and emotions can run high. Security is on guard to ensure that everyone in the courthouse remains safe and that victims are protected from their abusers.

They accomplish this important duty by instructing people going in and out of the courthouse to go through metal detectors or security checkpoints. You may have to empty your pockets or put your briefcase or purse through an x-ray machine. If you have objects on you that could be used as weapons, you may have to forfeit them to the security guards until you leave the courthouse.

Family courts perform important roles in maintaining peace and structure in American families. People can get married, file for divorce, seek child custody and support, determine legitimacy, and handle other family disputes in this type of court. These courts operate as separate divisions of municipal or state courts.

Family court is a separate division of a state or municipal court. The judges that oversee family cour cases are the same ones elected to serve at the municipal or state level. However, they are specifically assigned to hear family cases involving custody, support, divorce, marriage, and other situations that American families face on a daily basis.

Depending on the type of case you plan to file, you may find it useful to hire an attorney to represent you. Your lawyer will be able to provide you with important information like the family court phone number, which you may need to call if your spouse violates a PFA or you need to change the date of your court appearance.

Your lawyer can also help you know the right amount of family court child support to pursue along with any other matter you need decided. Judges typically get a better understanding of your case if you have a lawyer representing you during the proceedings.

Judges in this type of court routinely and increasingly hear cases involving surrogacy, legitimacy, and guardianship. The decrees from these cases can influence what amount of financial support children are entitled to as well as what their rightful last name should be listed as on their birth certificate. Many states require these decrees particularly in cases of surrogacy or adoption.

These courts also hear cases involving instances of violence against family members. The family court judges coordinate their efforts with law enforcement to ensure that victims are fully protected from their abusers or kidnappers. These cases can involve everything from domestic violence to parental kidnapping and molestation or child abuse. These cases can also be decided alongside other family cases like divorces.